Ankara considers construction of “Turkish stream”

Turkey considers the Russian proposal to build the “Turkish stream,” the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey Taner Yildiz said, the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported Dec.22. He said that this project is very interesting for Turkey. Yildiz said that Germany, France and Italy are the partners of the project, and that’s why EU policy, directed against the “Turkish stream”, causes perplexity.

During the negotiations in Turkey Dec. 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that under current conditions, as well as due to the EU’s unconstructive position, Russia couldn’t continue the implementation of the South Stream project. However, Russia will build a new gas pipeline system to meet the needs of Turkey.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Dec. 10 that the representatives of the Russian Federation and Turkey intend to meet in December to discuss the issue of the new pipeline construction. At present, the sides are analyzing various options of its route.

“At present, the negotiations are underway at the level of economic entities because they must clearly define the route and consider different variants of the further hub site, the gas pipeline route across the Black Sea,” the minister said. “There are different options. So, it is first necessary to analyze all technical and economic indices. Gazprom and Botas are involved in this process.”

South Stream is the transnational gas pipeline project, which was worked out to diversify the natural gas supply routes to European consumers. It envisaged natural gas supply across the Black Sea to South and Central Europe. It was planned to start constructing a gas pipeline from Russia’s Black Sea coast, the town of Anapa, Krasnodar region, then across the Black Sea by crossing Bulgaria’s coastline.